Published: October 16, 2006 08:11 am      

David & Goliath race in the 8th

Hayes says he’s delivered for county

Sunday, October 15, 2006 — U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes, R-Concord, says he’s delivered the goods to constituency in Stanly County.

He’s lined up $2 million to help two Locust defense contractors grow and flourish, he’s included $2 million more for the growing Albemarle-Stanly County Airport and seen that there’s funding help - in the form of low-interest loans for the fledgling Stanly Water & Sewer Authority.

And that’s just in the last few months.

Serving his fourth term in the House of Representatives from North Carolina's 8th district, Hayes serves part or all of Mecklenburg, Union, Anson, Richmond, Scotland, Hoke, Cumberland, Montgomery, Stanly and Cabarrus counties.

He was born and raised in Concord, where he still lives, and owns the Mt. Pleasant Hosiery Mills.

In a nutshell, here are some of his accomplishments:

• U.S. China Bilateral Trade Agreement;

• E-85 and alternative fuels legislation - Hayes introduced E-85 legislation and then worked with other members to get similar legislation passed in the House;

• Worked on expanding the Berry Amendment, or “Buy American” provisions;

• Working to encourage defense industries to locate in the 8th District and hosting the Annual Defense Trade Show in Fayetteville;

• Funding for infrastructure improvements including Millingport School sewer, county water projects and airport renovation;

• Funding for key education programs in the District including funding for programs at Central Piedmont Community College, Dell TechKnow into classrooms, 8th District Congressional Scholars program, bringing technology into area classrooms;

• Working successfully for NC military bases on the BRAC round, although the Niven Center was closed, the 227th deactivated and the property in the process of being allocated for local use.

He’s a rabid supporter of the U.S. military as would be expected for the U.S. Representative whose district includes Ft. Bragg. He’s also big on farming and education.

“ I believe that the prosperity of our communities depends on quality education, which is why I have worked with local school systems and community colleges to introduce new technology into the classroom and provide teachers with classroom-access to vast new resources,” he said.

As a textile mill owner, he’s unabashedly in support of cracking down on cheap Chinese imports although opponents still heckle him for voting for the Central American Trade Agreement after repeatedly opposing it publically.

“I went to Washington to make a difference and not sit still and be safe,” Hayes, 61, said.

On the CAFTA vote change, in which Hayes cast the final vote in the 217-215 victory, he told watchdog groups angered by his change of heart that he obtained a Bush administration promise to support a new Hong Kong Customs Enforcement pact, ostensibly to “toughen textile transshipment measures.”

In a press release following the CAFTA vote, Hayes indicated his concerns about textile rules in CAFTA “were addressed” s the morning before his vote switch.

Hayes says he has to weigh all sides of an argument and vote what be believes is bets for this district.

Back in 2001, Hayes offered the tie-breaking vote on Fast Track trade agreement in exchange for a Bush administration promise to secure funds to hire 72 customs officers to fight textile transshipment. He’s one of the sponsors of the Berry Act, that forced U.S. military procurement officials to “buy American.”

And he want to see what’s left of the American textile industry continue to evolve, streamline and grow. Textile innovations can meet the changing market needs.

“There’s a lot of interesting things happening in American textile business,” he said, citing the development of thermal underwear and futuristic weaves that promote health and safety.

Hayes recounts the story about McRae Industries, the Montgomery County shoe manufacturer who has contracts to make Army boots. When procurement officers decided to downscale their orders with the company, Hayes got on the telephone and repeatedly let the responsible parties know how unhappy he was about the change.

When the U.S. buyers finally changed their mind and placed new orders with McRae, the officials placing the order told the company order to “get your Congressman off our back.”

He’s also a big promoter of veterans’ services, although he was drafted during Vietnam and did not serve. With the 8th district encompassing parts or all of 10 counties, Hayes said he was distressed to learn just how long and far veterans, often World War II-era servicemen, have to travel to get medical and other services. So Hayes loaded up then-Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Princippi in an SUV and took him for a drive to show him just what America’s ‘Greatest Generation” had to endure to get VA services in the 8th District.

Because of his efforts, the VA opened a satellite clinic in Rockingham. Hayes said it’s essential that the U.S., and Congress, take care of its returning veterans, particularly those suffering physical and mental problems from iraq and Afghanistan.

When the VA included only $7 million in the upcoming 2007 budget for brain injury treatment, hayes said that wasn’t enough. He waged a war to get that funding level boosted. The figure now included in the budget is $17 million.

“I’ve been able to make a difference.”

He also has fought hard for expanding mental health services for returning vets and has stood by the promise that vets will get “Tri-Care” for life.

He worked hard to make sure Stanly County has clean, safe drinking water. He points to the expansion of waterline to River Haven and the Fork area of Norwood, and the effort required to get federal funding to run waterlines to Millingport Elementary School as proof of his commitment to local residents.

But not all of Hayes’ causes are site specific. He’s proud of the reforms to the Medicare Part D prescription drug plan that impacts an estimated 72,000 seniors in the 8th District.

“Those 72,000 people in my district now have prescription drug coverage because of my vote,” he said.

Hayes points out that The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reports the average costs of the Medicare prescription drug plans will remain the same or less in 2007. Hayes said that’s further proof that the market was holding prices down for seniors and taxpayers - while giving seniors maximum choice in plans that are best for them.

Federal officials announced that the average premium for Medicare prescription drug coverage next year would be about $24 a month, which is the same as this year and 40 percent less than first anticipated for 2007, Hayes said.

"This announcement by CMS is good news for our seniors," said Hayes. "Giving seniors a choice has resulted in lower premiums for them and lower costs for taxpayers. The prescription drug benefit has experienced some glitches, like the reimbursement times for pharmacies, but we are working to correct these problems."

Hayes said he’s in the 8th District every chance he gets, attending community fairs, ribbon-cuttings, senior citizen events and, as expected, veterans functions. His campaign this fall will consist of appearances and plenty of meet-and-greet events.

“We’ve been going door-to-door all my life. The reason I love this job is because I enjoy people. I think I’m a good listener and I believe I do the right thing.

He admits the GOP has been rocked by some revelations recently. The resignation of U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, R- Florida, for inappropriate communications with teen-age pages sickens him.

“It’s despiciable. There’s no excuse. This shouldn’t be and won’t be tolerated,” Hayes said the Monday after Foley, who hasn’t been charged with a crime, resigned his House seat to enter an alcohol rehab program.

The leaks that a report from 16 U.S. intelligence agencies that said that the war in iraq has spread terrorism and left America more in danger has Hayes dismissing the jist of the news reports.

“ If there’s a report that hey are going to use, you ought to read the whole thing and not just cherry-pick it,” he said.

For me, there’s a whole lot of old news in this. We’re been under attack for the past 25 years,” Hayes said of the war on terror.

“History was clear - it was coming,”

He sits on three House committees important to North Carolina's 8th district: Armed Services, Agriculture, and Transportation and Infrastructure.

He also heralded the passage of the Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006, which seeks to prevent voter fraud and ensure that only eligible, registered voters cast a ballot. The legislation will ultimately require proof of U.S. citizenship before a prospective voter casts a ballot.

"It is important that every U.S. citizen has the right to cast a ballot for elected leadership," said Hayes. "It is also important that these legal votes are not diminished by those who break the law and vote illegally. Last year, the House passed legislation requiring proof of legal residence in a state before gaining a driver's license or ID card. This year, we are taking the next step to ensure that every American citizen's right to vote is preserved and not weakened."

Hayes and his wife, Barbara, have been married for 38 years and have two children and four grandchildren. Hayes earned a degree in History from Duke University.



Kissell’s shoestring campaign pulls close

The way Larry Kissell sees it, Republican U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes has to run against two opponents - the lanky textile mill worker-turned-school teacher and the Republican’s own record in Congress.

Democrat Kissell faces Hayes, the fourth richest man in Congress, in the race for the North Carolina’s 8h District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Kissell, 55, of Biscoe, faces tough odds in the campaign, particularly in fundraising. Hayes, as of this week, had $1.2 million in his campaign war chest, with an estimated $250,000 already spent on “media buys.”

Kissell’s campaign has taken off recently, witness former Democratic Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards — possible 2008 presidential candidate — stumping for him before Friday night’s football game in Hayes’ hometown of Concord.

Last week, when Kissell campaign fund had a mere $88 in the bank, he put out a call to local supporters and took in thousands of dollars in a matter of hours. Not from big corporations or industry PACs, but from regular folks working paycheck-to-paycheck. In all, it’s estimated that Kissell will spend about $100,000 in the campaign, a mere 15th of what the incumbent has available.

“We’re just hitting them with a healthy dose of Robin Hayes’ record - when you get that, it wakes you up,” he said.

“It’s going to take a lot of money to explain away his record to the voters,” he said.

Kissell isn’t the stereotypic radical. He believes in the death penalty, is personally opposed to abortion and supports the right to bear arms. He’s a working-class candidate.

Kissell, a lifelong Democrat, worked in sales and various other jobs for 27 years in the textile industry before the Star plant owned by Renfro Corp., which ultimately closed for good in 2003.

Kissell saw that the deck was stacked against American textile workers in 2001 the effects of free trade on the domestic textile industry were becoming evident. Textile plants were shutting down operations all over the area and many production jobs were being sent overseas. He embraced a new career - teaching - and got his teaching certificate so that the day after he left the textile plant, he was in front of students, teaching social studies.

Part of the Civics curriculum was teaching the workings of government. Kissell said the more he taught about our founding principles and Constitution to students, the more he realized how far off-course the country had strayed from the Founders' intentions.

“When the Founders developed the concept of the United States Congress it was meant to be a branch of government that would be filled by everyday people. These people would come and go, being replaced by other everyday people. Congress was not meant to be a profession. It was meant to be what it was called: The U.S. House of Representatives,” Kissell said.

With his only elected offices being in high school, Kissell decided in October 2005 it was time for regular working Americans to take back “their” House “instead of sitting around and complaining about it.”

Although he calls Hayes “a good man,” he said the 8th District’s representative has broken his promises to the people.

At the top of the list is Hayes’ flip-flop and last-minute vote making Central American Free Trade Agreement a reality.

“For the 8th District, all free-trade deals are bad. Mr. Hayes made a promise and broke it. No amount of justification can make up for the loss of trust. He has become part of the Washington-insider culture.”

National security, less government, less taxes and real family values are the hallmarks of Kissell’s grassroots campaign.

Iraq

“We staged our way into Iraq in one year, there is no reason we can't stage our way out in one year.”

Kissell said the three-pronged mission of going to war with Iraq - searching for WMDs, toppling Saddam Hussein and bringing democracy to the people of Iraq - has been accomplished. Now, it’s time to begin phasing out the U.S. involvement and bring the troops home to ready for the next threat.



Energy

One big root cause of terrorism the U.S.'s “self-defeating addiction to oil.”

“It's virtually impossible to consider an administration so beholden to the interests of big oil and not to regular working Americans could ever be effective in preparing us for a future without oil, especially given its insistence on taking us places we neither belong nor are welcome,” he said.

Survival as a nation is contingent on how we plan and prepare for the inevitable exhaustion of oil supplies.

“Yet concerns for oil profits over people have not yielded the kind of alternative energy progress one would expect from an administration so willing to go to the last resort of war in the name of national security,” he said.

Oil imports only increase the U.S.’s record trade deficit “while taking us to some of the least stable places on earth and covertly funding our enemies in the war on terrorism in the process,” he said. The U.S. must implement a dedicated mentality to secure the future with homegrown, alternative and renewable energy sources. By doing so, the U.S. will become both secure and sever as a world leader in energy production.



Economics

“There is no rationale for a fiscally irresponsible $8.2 trillion debt making us safer as it's largely funded by growing sources of economic instability and threats to our solvency like China. Proponents of globalization and ‘free’ trade may point to record corporate profit and expansion, but that's little comfort to those having lost their livelihoods as we outsource our domestic manufacturing readiness and capability in a cynical race to the bottom,” he said.

Kissell said if Hayes was a true conservative, he’d spend less time handing out checks this campaign season while running up a tab for with the People's Republic of China, and more time balancing the deficit he helped create in our Republican-led ‘borrow and spend’ Congress.

Veterans

Hayes said “Supporting Our Troops” is more than a bumper sticker to be trotted out by an administration that neither plans for their success nor provides for the troops’ needs on the ground.

America’s armed forces are without question the best in the world, he said. U.S. troops deserve all credit “for maintaining stability in the mess this administration has spread globally,” Kissell said.

“As the very life blood of our National Security then, it’s our moral obligation to provide the best possible care for those having made the sacrifice. How we treat our veterans is both indicative of our nation's moral fiber and what we can expect from future generations when the call for sacrifice is made again. My late father, a decorated World War II veteran and member of that “greatest generation” we now recall so fondly, instilled the values of community responsibility, public service and sacrifice in me that we must all adhere to when it comes to taking care of our veterans. We can do better, and will with your help.”



Government Growth

The government’s record deficit and an administration yet to veto a single spending measure demonstrates, Kissell said, proof that President Bush and his Republican majority has not delivered on promises to decrease bureaucracy.

“It's simply bogus to state that there has effectively been any meaningful decrease in the size of government except for the reduction in some programs that actually help the working people, children, students, and veterans of this nation. Even then, those modest cuts were simply passed along as more massive tax breaks targeting the wealthy like our own incumbent representative, increasing our deficit further,” he said.

Massive new programs, even those with laudable intentions, such as federal intrusion into the traditional area of state interest with “No Child Left Behind,” the creation of the Homeland Security Department and Medicare Prescription Drug Plan all show the contradiction of what was promised versus delivered, Kissell said.

“As to the efficiency of our newly bloated government, FEMA is not doing a “heck of a job,” we still can't get flu vaccines for the second year in a row and our seniors are more confused and scared than ever, with a government that raids our Social Security coffers to pay for its expansion, then threatens to “fix” Social Security in the manner it “fixed” Medicare. Not on my watch,” he said.

Kissell said Congressional “pork” spending, cronyism, lobbying and rubber stamping are at an all -time high in Washington, while ethics, integrity and accountability are at an all-time low.

“It's truly going to take one of us to return our values to Congress. I will be the change honest people seek.”



Privacy

Kissell said a hallmark of “less government” includes a commitment to protecting personal freedoms and civil liberties. It’s not the dangerous consolidation of executive power, abusive efforts to spy on American citizens, and intrusive legislation from a federal government treading in unchartered areas it has no business.

“‘Less government’ means that our privacy as autonomous individuals must be respected as per the Constitution. We must follow the rule of law as our Founders intended, applying to both the government and governed. I am a pro-privacy candidate for Congress. The concept of "privacy" means that neither our government, nor any others, can make our most personal decisions for us,” he said.



Family Values

Real family values means expecting far more from our Congress than being told how to be a family, he said.

“It means having representatives actually demonstrating values such as honesty and integrity. We deserve a representative that keeps his word on important votes like CAFTA, a representative that rejects corrupting influences from lobbyists rather than embraces them, and a humble representative accountable to the people, rather than one with the stated attitude ‘You need me more than I need you’,” Kissell said.

He said a commitment to family values means helping working families rise above the poverty line, instead of pushing millions more working families down the economic ladder while giving targeted tax breaks to idle wealth.

“Our families deserve more than empty moral posturing from an incumbent that votes to reduce efforts to collect child support for struggling families, makes it more difficult to obtain student loans and goes out of his way to vote for torture. The hard working families of the 8th District and our nation deserve a commitment to education, economic opportunity, civil rights, personal freedoms and the safe, clean environment that we all want for our families,” Kissell said.

“We've had enough of the nonsense from the incumbent aristocracy in DC that has proven they'd rather wedge us apart than bring us together. It's time for an honest debate on real family values.”

Going into the race, few would have said a newcomer to politics with a tiny bankroll would have a shot at upending an rich incumbent, but Kissell’s independent polling shows he has a real shot at beating Hayes. Polls two weeks ago put him a single point behind Hayes while one set for release this weekend indicates he’s now ahead by seven points.

He points to Concord as an example of his appeal. That’s Hayes’ hometown but with the closing of Pillowtex, thousands of faithful, long-time workers were thrown into the unemployment lines.

“Those people have lost 3,000 to 4,000 jobs. They’re hurting - there’s a lot of people who have discontent.”

Kissell has a B.A. in Economics from Wake Forest University, a deacon at First Baptist Church, Biscoe, and he and his wife, Tina, have two children.